Umbrella Against Fate
by beaucoup riant
Summary: They were both misfits belonging on polar opposite worlds. They meet in the middle and defy rules by deciding to switch. This is a story about their love and how it brought the world as they know it to end. CloTi
1. The End of The World

**Umbrella Against Fate**

**Author's Notes: **I've reloaded this story. I made some small changes, not much. This is a prologue.

I'm going to put in the reason why I'm writing this story for Final Fantasy 7:

Because I LOVE Final Fantasy VII. Although I am, by no means, no longer writing I Want To Be You. I am just making another version of it for Cloud and Tifa. The problem with writing the story for CCS was the fact that the characters through and through were innocent in their anime and it was kind of hard to reform them despite being in an AU setting. So I wanted to write it for FF7. Cloud and Tifa, in their original format of the game has always been more complex characters. They hold depth and the complexity of their characters make them much more realistic. And overall the very image of them and the story of them as individuals and even as a couple fits much better with the characters I wanted for the story. So here it is!

If you didn't know already, I've written this type of story for Card Captor Sakura.

So overall I hope you all enjoy and review. This story is very close to my heart.

**Disclaimer: **The characters belong to Square Cinx. The story itself is mine.

**Full Summary: **They were both misfits belonging on polar opposite worlds. When they meet in the middle, they decide to do the ultimate act of defiance…they decided to switch themselves. By doing so they entered a bond stronger than any magic that would lead the world as they know it to end. But this is a story about their love and the powerful bond that lead one demon to be turned into an angel and an angel to demon.

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_They were clinging to each other, curving their bodies while facing each other to form a big ball. Hands entwined, fingers tightening in a painful grip, legs tucked between each others, and hearts beating frantically. The world has been reduced to just the two of them._

_At that moment, he could see the blackness of her wings and only question and wonder why they weren't white. He's always wondered such a thing since he first met her. Over her shoulder, he could see the exploding gray mass and the burning of everything he had just recently known. He curls closer and he shakes a hand loose enough so that he could touch, with the barest of touches, a tip of a feather. She understands automatically because her wings raise higher, blocking his view of the outside world._

_There are crystal tears falling from her eyes, unable to stop like a meteor shower falling in the abyss of that blackness outside of this planet called space. He withholds his because he thinks…he thinks he has to be strong for the two of them. So he curls closer to her, interlacing their fingers together again. _

_For her, she could only question why his wings could remain so clean and white after all the things they've done. How could they be so beautiful and so pure after all the damage they've caused and endured? Over his shoulder, she could see the collapse of what was once beautiful crystals that emitted light and be devoured by darkness. He must've sensed her distress at seeing it because his wings raise to block her view._

_Together, they have curled tightly, their wings covering their bodies. His large white wings on top and hers at the bottom. Enclosing the two bodies together under the strength of such beautiful wings that they have only grown to loathe. The wings of an angel on a demon and the wings of a demon on an angel. _

_And they clasp at each other. And they wait._

_They wait for their worlds to end. They wait for the pain to stop scorching. _


	2. The Masks We

**Umbrella Against Fate**

**.:Chapter 1:.**

The heirs of the throne to The Above hold The Taint. The Taint is the sins of the angels held in a concentrated form. It is symbolic that the rulers of the land hold the burdens of the people. If the person is to overcome The Taint and be able to rule the demonic voice in their minds, they could become the leader. It is part of the markings, the things a higher being angel must deal with in order to rule.

Cloud Strife was the sole heir to the throne. No matter what happens, he would have to take over from his mother. He was a broken angel and he was tormented by The Taint. Over the years of war and killing before he was born, the accumulation of the power of The Taint had been reserved for his mind only. How powerful it has become! Voices raging inside of his mind, threatening to claw him hollow of himself and take over.

He was bloodthirsty in a way no angel should be. He enjoyed a fight and the only thing that stopped him from killing his opponent was the strict rules of where he was. Angels shouldn't kill after all, unless it was their demonic enemy. He loses himself in the throes of a fight. The acceleration and the strains of muscle, the clangs of weapons clashing, the resonation of magic across the field…it is a siren call to him in which he answers each time.

His blood thirst comes from the desire to finish a fight, so total and so thorough. In a moment of a fight, he can not tell the difference between an angel opponent and that of a demon opponent. It is not because he wants to lash out and kill anything and everything in sight. Cloud wants to fight an enemy once and only once.

However bloodthirsty he was, he has never taken a life. Cloud's mother doesn't trust it, holding her firm belief that if he was to kill, The Taint will succeed in taking away her son's mind. He has directed soldiers to take lives but he has never stained his hands in such things. He has seen blood and been soaked in blood from his battles, but it has never seeped into his skin. Yet the sins of his people have burnt him.

Cloud has always had to deal with the stares of his people, looking at him as if he was a monster. They look at him as if he is going to kill someone any moment. They look at him as if he is the only warrior of their land, the only one who has killed thousands and thousands.

'_I have not killed! I haven't killed anyone!' _Cloud shouts.

He carries The Taint and yet he is the most pure of heart. Still Cloud is the monster.

'_You must overcome! You must overcome your burden as the heir! You must show the people!' _His mother and her councilors tell him.

The pressure only makes him want to erupt. It only makes the voice of the Taint stronger, beckoning to release the walls of his mind. It beckons him to relieve his strains and only rest in the comfort of his mind so that it can take over. False security.

This strain makes him the outcast of The Above. They must respect him for the power he holds but they hate him for who he is.

His jaw is strong and his cheekbones are high. His hair is boyishly long. His body is taunt, full of muscles that are sleek and powerful. He is every bit of a man in his prime yet his eyes are hooded in a way that makes him seem much older than he truly is.

Despite all his efforts, Cloud remains to be one thing. He is a misfit, simply an image of an angel while being a broken person. And although he pretends not hear it, the whispers of his people echo in his ears: '_He should've been a demon!'_

**.:Underworld:.**

The pulse of the man beneath her thumps pleasantly against the curve of her palm. Her mind is screaming at her and she tries to ignore it. She feels the stare of her two brothers at her back, a constant pressure to what she must do.

The next heartbeat of the man's life is his last. Her mind didn't silence instead it hurled and screamed, it almost made her dizzy. But she tosses her long black hair over her shoulder and she mentally pulls on the stoic face. Tifa turns around and her ruby red eyes glance over to Vincent, her older brother and her closest friend in this wretched place. Finally, Tifa's eyes settle on her eldest brother.

Vincent looks the most like her. They were both made of porcelain skin and black hair with red eyes. Vincent's eyes were darker though. Her eldest brother looked nothing like her and Vincent. He had long silver hair with striking blue green eyes. Sephiroth's mouth curls into a smirk and his hands come together in a short clap. Vincent remains stoic.

"Good job sister. In no time, you will rid yourself of your pathetic soul." Her eldest brother, as well as The Demon King, says.

Tifa nods once to her brother and watches him take his leave. Mentally, her fists are clenching in anger. But despite her anger, his words ring true because the voice has stopped if only momentarily. Vincent approaches her a bit hesitantly. He stops to stand in front of her and asks if she is okay.

"I'm fine." Tifa grinds out but then softens her eyes slightly for a brief moment. Vincent nods in response and brushes his knuckles against her cheek in brotherly affection before taking his leave.

Two princes and one princess are the children of a Demon King and his half human and half demon wife. The eldest son, Sephiroth, was the most demonic. Sephiroth took in the Seven Sins at birth, marking him to become the next Demon King and telling his fate of killing his father to take the role. Vincent, the second son, was born mostly demonic with a torn up shred of a soul. His demonic self had basically eaten his soul and spat out the remnants of it. Still…a soul is a soul no matter how torn up it was. Lastly came the daughter, Tifa. She was as divided as her mother, half demon and the other half an intact soul.

To quell the voice of her soul, Tifa has been tormented to kill. As a child, she remembered being held closely by Vincent as she watched demons and men being slain. She remembered crying afterwards for many years because she couldn't stand the torment of her mind until she had been punished enough times to shut up.

Her mind constantly whispered: '_You could've done something! A life is gone because you didn't do anything!'_

Finally, as Tifa aged, she was forced to kill. The stain of blood would be the strength of her demonic self, to kill the soul. Her parents had hoped that she would end up with something like what Vincent had, a torn up shredded soul in which the demonic state had almost all control of. Still, the throbbing of her soul only grew. She stopped crying and refusing. She had learned long ago to simply pretend that her soul had been eaten up and spat out. And finally, she was relieved of killing and watching death in its work.

That was until her eldest brother became the Demon King. He was reluctant to believe and often times sent her in the place of another demon to kill. He wanted to ensure that she was demon; he wanted to show the people that his sister was truly the Rose of the Black Moon. Tifa's fought and killed; and still her soul relents, pushing away the darker nature of her birth. Finally, Tifa has simply learned to bury her soul, to ignore it. She hoped that if it remained buried, it would rot inside of her.

If it would only rot inside of her, she would be free of the horrid chains that tied her. She was the Demon Princess, sister to the Demon King. Despite the fact that Sephiroth and Vincent was cold and would kill without much of a thought, they loved her. Being the Demon Princess and the loved sister of both the king and the prince, forced all beings of the Underworld to respect her. They had to bow to her and fulfill any orders she gave out. Still, they whispered against her and more than once had she been plotted against.

Still, her mind shouts inside of her.. _'Just let me be. Let me see who I am and not what you force me to be.'_

Tormented was the story of Tifa. A tormented demon with a soul, without the desire to kill. And no matter how many souls of humans she takes and how many demons she's slain, the people whisper against her. She's held life in her hands and crushed in between her fingers. She's thrown people in the pits of fires that lead them to Oblivion. She's fought her opponents and those who have tried to hurt her.

'_Fight and kill! It will be the only way to kill your soul!'_ The voices of her parents scolding her from memories belonging to her childhood.

And still, no matter what she does and what lengths of protection Vincent and Sephiroth offer, the people whisper against her. She was supposed to be Rose of the Black Moon as the princess of the Underworld. Yet no one addresses her so despite the fact that she has earned the title with her conquests.

'_She should've been an angel!'_

**Author's Notes: **I had a tough time writing this story since I didn't feel like I managed to capture the characters and stay true to it, so let me know! I'd like constructive criticism about how I went about portraying the characters and anything else you can think of. So please review!


	3. Depths of Self

**Umbrella Against Fate**

**Author's Notes: **Yay! Another update! I'm trying to make my chapters longer, but I don't' really feel like its working. I'm attempting so let me know what you think!

Italics are the Taint or the soul's voice.

**Disclaimer: **The characters belong to Square Cinx. The story itself is mine.

**Full Summary: **They were both misfits belonging on polar opposite worlds. When they meet in the middle, they decide to do the ultimate act of defiance…they decided to switch themselves. By doing so they entered a bond stronger than any magic that would lead the world as they know it to end. But this is a story about their love and the powerful bond that lead one demon to be turned into an angel and an angel to demon.

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**.:Chapter 2:.**

He was merely walking into the city made of crystals floating on the sky. Cloud had donned on a simple pair of tunic and pants, hoping to not attract any attention as he strolled around. He wanted to be left alone. His blond hair shimmered in the light of the sun and their reflections upon the crystal buildings. His blue eyes looked like gems. He was heartbreakingly handsome but females avoided looking at him. It wasn't because they were so repulsed by him; rather they were afraid of him. Afraid of what would happen to them if they might happen to be there when The Taint is unleashed.

Cloud sat down on a bench overlooking a fountain in a square. He watched as birds flew and bathed in the waters. He exhaled deeply, feeling very much at peace. He was starting to think about how great it was that he wasn't running into any trouble and today wasn't so bad at all, until someone ruined it.

"Well look what we have boys! We got the only prince, the commander of our forces!" The man chuckled. "A pathetic commander of our forces, if you ask me. All you do is bitch at us to do things while you sit there looking like the pretty boy when no woman would even wanna look at you. You probably can't fight!" The other man said. Behind him, his friends laughed. Cloud could see from the corner of the other angel's wings that women were staring too.

'_Are you going to take that? If you do, you're exactly as he says. You're weak and just a pretty boy.'_

"You haven't even killed anybody. All you do is just talk and talk and make us do all the dirty work." The man taunted. Cloud could vaguely see that he was a soldier angel because he had a long scar across the collarbone which peeked out from his long tunic shirt.

'_He thinks you're weak! Then again, you are. Let me out, show him he's wrong. Show him he's wrong. You're strong, right, Cloud?'_

Cloud gritted his teeth. Ignore it, he chanted to himself. Ignore the voice. However the brunette man towering over him kept going at it.

"You're so small anyway. Why would they even put you in charge? Your mother should've had a demon kill you from the start and save the rest of The Above the trouble of having to be ruled by a pathetic weak prince like you."

Cloud shot up. The action made the other angel stumble backwards. The brunette attempted to open his mouth to say another crude thing, but Cloud's hands have wrapped around the collar of his shirt and cut off his airway in a flash. Cloud was slightly shorter than him but the way that he was emitting anger and his eyes glaring at the other man from behind the long bangs of blonde hair made all things quiet.

"Arena in an hour, we'll fight and I'll show you how _weak_ I am." Cloud spat. With that, he dropped the man and started to head back to the palace.

Still the other man decided to have the last word. "An hour? I can beat you right here and now!"

However the deadly glare that Cloud sent over his shoulder sent a shiver of fear down the dark haired angel's spine. Had he unleashed The Taint?

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The sword in his hands was a familiar companion. The leather that wrapped around the hilt was worn enough that Cloud merely had to feel for the imprint of his hands to know where to hold it. It was heavy in his right hand but he was accustomed to the heavy weight of the First Tsurugi.

He was wearing thick white cotton shirt and pants underneath his metallic blue armor. He was watching practically alone in the stadium arena, watching as people gathered in the benches to watch this fight. With his sensitive hearing he could hear whispers of the people wondering if he was going to kill the other man like he killed his enemies.

Cloud brushed it aside. No one knew him in this land, save for a tiny handful of people. No one understood him here, no one knows his history. The only think of him as monster because they only know one fact: that he inherited the worst of The Taint.

A hand clapped onto his shoulder, shifting the weight of his armor to the hand. Cloud turned around and saw the dark blue eyes framed by long black hair of spikes looking down at him. Zack had always been more than he was….taller and more built. Cloud's best friend gave him a smile and a squeeze on the shoulder, silently saying that things were going to be all right.

That's what he loved about Zack. Zack never would tell him to practice restrain, be careful, or any of the other crap people told him. Zack would only ask to make sure that Cloud was safe, that he make sure no harm comes to him. Zack was always concerned for Cloud, nothing else. The blonde man gave him a nod in acknowledgement to the silent questions in which spoke through Zack's eyes. With that, Zack left, heading to find a seat.

The other angel that Cloud was going to face off came. He held a katana in his hands and he wore a light green armor. He looked taller than Cloud was, definitely held more muscle. The man's face was twisted in anger. They bowed to the people watching and then each other and the fight commenced.

The man charged quickly at Cloud the second the fight commenced. He held his katana up and poised for an offensive attack. Cloud stood still, eyes sharply focused on his opponent. He had his feet spread out and he held his body in a defensive position, with his large sword at the side, prepared to swing off any attack.

The man jumped to Cloud's side and aimed the edge at his ribcage. With such a large sword, everyone would think that Cloud wouldn't have the speed to block the attack. Cloud spun around and the sword knocked the katana aside, as well as effectively adding more space in between his opponent and himself. The movement surprised his opponent and Cloud took the advantage by taking up the offensive without giving his enemy the chance to think.

However the other man was quick to respond by jumping up and soon the fight commenced in mid air. Cloud followed without a moment hesitation and his own large wings took up easily into the sky. He brought his large sword up over his head and swung down.

The katana dropped from the man's hands and swung onto the ground. Without a weapon, the other man resorted to striking Cloud with his words, fists, and magic.

"You're pathetic. You must be trying to compensate for something with that big sword of yours. Probably trying to compensate for the fact that you suck as a leader as well as a man!"

A bolt of lightening shot out from the man's hands. Cloud attempted to block it with his sword but the electricity traveled down from the blade and into his hands, shocking him enough to drop his own sword. Now Cloud was left only with magic and fists to fight.

Cloud gritted his teeth. He wasn't much of a hand to hand combat person. He's been practiced with it and he was probably much better at it but he excelled in swords.

'_You can let me out. I can take care of this stupid guy for you, easily. Just let me out for a few moments, that's all. I'll come back to that little cage you want me in after it's all over willingly. Come on…come on!'_

Cloud charged at the other man, fists raised. He dodged the magic and punched the man in the gut. He sent a roundhouse kick to his stomach and the man flew to the ground with a crash. However his opponent sent another shot of lightening before he landed.

Cloud barely managed to dodge it.

'_You're so slow! You are supposed to be the prince of The Above, the next God! And you're weak enough to almost let some lower angel shoot you with a bolt of lightening?!'_

"Wow that was some weak punch. I guess I let my guard down too much. Now I'm done playing!" The man said as he shot from the ground and into the sky again. He sent Cloud a punch in the face that sent the blonde falling backwards.

'_You let him hit you! You're worth nothing if you can get hit by that son of a bitch!'_

Cloud could feel anger building in his chest. And taunted by both his enemy and the dark voice in his mind, Cloud strove to prove them both wrong. He got up and charged at the man, sending bolts of fire and ice to distract the other man as he charged towards him. Each piece of magic Cloud threw at the other man sent the other man closer to Cloud as he flew straight ahead.

Cloud's kick sent his body up. Cloud's powerful white wings glided him up easily and he stopped when he was above the shocked body. The other man's eyes looked at him and he thrived in the fear he saw in them. Cloud sent a punch in his stomach and a straight kick that had the other man falling downwards. Not having enough, Cloud flew down until he caught the man just before he hit the ground and threw him back up into the sky.

Tired of the chase, Cloud sent bolts of fire at him. Wanting to throw him off, Cloud threw shards of ice at him.

Cloud was entrapped with the siren call of a fight.

The magic was flowing in his veins, an intoxication that made him feel light and free. The stress and anger that he released in each hit he produced was electrifying. It felt so good! He wanted to laugh with childish glee as he sent the man flying upwards again. Cloud felt so powerful!

'_Keep going! This feels great!'_

More and more blows hit the other man. With each assertion of strength and magic, Cloud felt powerful. He felt so free, he felt like he was being released from a cage and finally being allowed to do what he wanted. This was his place, this was his moment. Nothing could touch him when he was here. He was unbeatable.

So entrapped, Cloud failed to hear the shocked gasps of the people watching the horrid fight. The other man was barely moving but Cloud didn't seem to relent any of his strength. He has loss sense of reality.

'_Finish the fight! Kill him! Show them just how powerful you are!'_

And there, that was when Cloud froze. He stopped midway from sending another shard of ice. His wings kept him hovering. His glowing blue eyes widened. Voices were raging inside of his ears and head. He had to stop, he had to stop!

Yet the siren was still singing, still weaving its magic around him like a blanket. He tried to untangle himself from it, shake the threads loose. Still Cloud found himself, without wanting to, come towards the body of the other angel.

"No, no, no!" Cloud thought to himself. "Stop it! I don't want to fight anymore!"

His body twitched in response but continued to move closer to the body of his enemy. The next blow would surely kill this other angel.

'_He taunted you. He thinks you're weak. Show everyone just how strong you really are.'_

"No!"

With a deep breath, Cloud jumped far away. He felt like he was suffocating, fighting against a tidal wave. He was ripping at the blanket of the siren call now, ripping it before it could wrap itself around him again. In a hole of reality, Cloud jumped through it and landed on the ground of reality. Without looking at his defeated opponent or anyone in the stadium, Cloud dashed away from the arena. He had won but in some ways, Cloud lost too.

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Tifa has been sent on a mission. She was going to go hunting today, alone in the Middle Ground. She was flying up, looking down, trying to find her prey. She was careful to stick closely to the rooftops of the buildings so people wouldn't see her. This was supposed to be an easy job, Sephiroth had said, so Tifa found it unnecessary to really throw up magic and walk along the streets. She thought she could sense everything perfectly fine.

Tifa's mind worked its gears, trying to detect her prey with from the memory of the sample of aura of her prey. It had smelled mostly innocent although she could detect that it wasn't all what it seemed. It told her a story of a harsh reality quickly seen, damaging a poor soul that has yet to be grown and prepared for the stinging of the world.

There! There her prey was. So up high, she could not really clearly see her prey, but she has locked on her target. Now, it was time to use magic. She whispered a soft spell, a simple spell, to lure her prey into a place where there were a few people. When she had managed to get her target into an alley, Tifa swooped down swiftly. As she drove down to the ground, she had been prepared to kill quickly and effortlessly.

However when Tifa landed on the ground, she stopped immediately. Her prey was not one, but two. Two pieces of the same puzzle, holding the same aura. Tifa gaped. They were twins, a boy and a girl. When she landed, the young boy of what only seemed to be ten years old, stood immediately in front of his sister. Their eye colors were different but their hair looked generally the same, both brown. The girl's hair was a bit darker but the boy had a lighter shade. They were both pale and sprinkled with freckles across their cheeks.

"Wh-who are you?" The boy shouted, stuttering. Tifa had been prepared to kill an adult, a teenager even, but not children! Tifa couldn't manage to make her mouth work. She couldn't even think of anything to say. How could someone send a demon to kill children?!

Swallowing, attempting to wet her dry throat, she thought of something to say. Maybe if she could figure out why she was sent to kill these children, it could make it easier. Her heart was throbbing with the thought of the killing such innocent looking children.

But looks are deceiving, her demonic state said. Yet her soul whispered that to the core, children are children: innocent.

"Why you are two alone?" Tifa asked quietly. She didn't want them to be afraid of her. When she had landed on the ground, she hadn't bothered to hide her large dark wings. She had been thinking of something quick and easy so that she could melt into the darkness and be back in the Underworld before anyone could spot her. Now that she was standing frozen in an alley with two children, she decided she should hide herself from the view of the rest of the world. "Where are your parents?" Tifa asked.

"We…we don't got none!" The girl shouted. The girl had moved up to stand next to her brother, deciding that if Tifa was going to harm them, maybe the both of them could take her.

"So what have you been doing? How have you been surviving?" Tifa asked. Although she almost shouted that one. Maybe they had killed someone to get the things they needed, murder could mean that they should be killed too. A life for a life.

The girl looked down in shame but the boy glared at her. "Nothing that no one else would've done! We did what we had to!"

"And what was that? Stealing? Killing?"

"We didn't kill anyone!" The girl shouted. Tears were forming in her eyes now. "We just… stole some food off from the carts, but that's it!"

"And where have you been sleeping?"

"In some boxes a few blocks from here." The boy answered this time. Now that Tifa looked closely, she could see the dirt that was in their hair and smeared on their cheeks. She was sure their clothes and limbs were packed full of grit as well.

"But…who are you? Why do you got wings?" The girl asked.

Suddenly, with the mention of wings, both of the children held a gleam of hope in their eyes. They thought Tifa was an angel. Tifa felt a pang in her chest. She couldn't kill them. Stealing was a petty thing, nothing worth dying for to pay the price. And she was no angel, but maybe just this once she could pretend to be. She could pretend to be an angel, sent from the Above, and lure the children into safety. Maybe they'll agree to go with her so she could find someplace safe to take them, so that she could find someone to take care of them.

"I'm an angel." Tifa lied.

"But you got black wings!" The boy shouted, suddenly mistrust in his eyes.

Tifa was quick to respond. "I'm in the dark, of course it looks black. It always looks black until the day comes, so I can blend in better to help people."

"So you're here to help us?" The girl said. Tifa nodded. Suddenly the girl came up and hugged Tifa's legs, tightly. "I'm Marlene."

The boy came to hug Tifa's legs, following his twin sister's example. "I'm Denzel."

She knelt down so they could all be eye level. "I'm Tifa. But you can't tell anyone that, alright? No one, all right? It's a secret."

The children nodded. Tifa sighed. She gathered them in her arms. "Hang on." She told them, and her large majestic wings lifted them all into the air. Their hands wrapped tightly around her arms in fear. In response, Tifa only held them closer to her chest.

Her mind was reeling. She would have to find them protection now, and she would have to play some magic to make sure that no one from her world would find them. She would have to think of how to deal with her brothers later. Forming a quick plan, Tifa dropped all three of them onto the streets. She used magic to hide her wings, but made herself visible. She put the two children on their feet and held their hands.

"Where are we going?" Marlene asked.

"We're going shopping for a few things we'll need." Tifa answered.

Tifa went into a jewelry shop even though the owner of it looked hesitant to let in two dirty children into their store. Tifa picked out a man's ring with a wolf on it, picked out a necklace to hold it for Denzel since she knew the size of the ring wouldn't have fit him. She needed to make this quick. She picked up a bracelet for Marlene. She paid for them with money she had stolen from people as she walked on the streets.

Tifa led the children into an alley. She needed to do this fast, this whole operation. Too long and her brother would send other demons to find her. She performed a quick spell on the pieces of jewelry and handed them to the children, making them put it on as soon as they received it.

"These will protect you. You are to never take it off, you hear me?" Tifa asked with a voice that left no room for argument. The children nodded. The spell would make their aura disappear and protect them so that when danger was to come near them, it would repel them. It would help Tifa anyways.

She flew them quickly to an orphanage, run by nuns in the next town over. Her heart was pounding; this was taking too much time. She was hoping that her brother would give her more time. She dropped them off, told them to knock and present themselves. Tifa left them standing alone on the doorway. She made a quick visit to the person who she thought ran the place and spoke a few seductively sweet words to ensure that the person would take care of Marlene and Denzel.

There her job was done. Tifa flew back to the town she had been sent to hunt. She was flying fast, her eyes skimming down to look for teenagers. She had to save Marlene and Denzel! Her well connected mind to the Underworld was telling her that demons were coming, surely and fast. Her brother doubted her. Her magic sensed one aura that was quick enough to match Denzel and Marlene. They would never know that the one aura she had been given was really two.

Tifa made her killing fast and easy. She had wasted precious time ensuring that Denzel and Marlene would have someone to take care of them, but it had been necessary. The person she had killed was a young twenty-something girl. From her clothing, Tifa could deduce that she had just started to become a stripper, desperate for money. The aura was close enough, too young and already forced to face the harsh real world.

When Tifa turned around, she gave a mental sigh of relief. There, came Sephiroth's favorite three demons: Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. They all had the same color hair as Sephiroth because they had been created by his magic. They were each given some replica of his power. They were the most faithful to the Demon King. Tifa hated them. They looked at the body and the aura Tifa held in her hands. She extended her hand to grasp Yazoo when he presented her it and she passed the aura of the dead girl into Loz's hands. The three demons escorted the Demon Princess back to the Underworld.

Upon arriving to the Underworld, Tifa went straight to her room. Sephiroth's demons would present him the aura. Tifa's body felt warm, her soul was bursting in happiness while her demonic side was screaming. She had saved two children, two beautiful children. She had done the right thing. Still, Tifa also did the wrong thing.

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**Author's Notes: ** I did change some facts about the ages of Denzel and Marlene. But I hope that's okay. I hope that was enough to catch your interest! Review as always please!


	4. Some Silver of Chance

**Umbrella Against Fate**

**Disclaimer: **The characters belong to Square Cinx. The story itself is mine.

**Full Summary: **They were both misfits belonging on polar opposite worlds. When they meet in the middle, they decide to do the ultimate act of defiance…they decided to switch themselves. By doing so they entered a bond stronger than any magic that would lead the world as they know it to end. But this is a story about their love and the powerful bond that lead one demon to be turned into an angel and an angel to demon.

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For such a large expanse of a room, Cloud felt suffocated. In a room with such bright lights, lights he was supposed to be used to living in The Above, blinded him. He could feel the anger radiating around him, burning him. He could hear whispers all around him, wrapping him in a cloak without being able to make out what the words had formed. For once, he wish for the comfort of the voice in his mind. On the inside, Cloud was very much of a mess but on the outside, he seemed like a very well done statue, frozen in time with the most beautiful features.

The councilors on the side of his mother stopped whispering to God, ruler of The Above. They took a step back from the large throne and glared at him briefly before disappearing in a dim flash of light. Left alone with what seemed like miles between them; mother and son stared at each other.

Elizabeth, Ruler of all Angels and The Above, stared at her son with such sorrow in her eyes. She could remember the nine months she carried him. She could remember the happy young child she carried in her arms as she tickled him. And all too quickly, it seemed, her son had grown up when he met his "imaginary friend". At first, Elizabeth had thought all children would have such things called imaginary friends and she had allowed it.

Without knowing it, she had allowed him to be faced with a demon. She had allowed him to befriend The Taint. Imaginary friends were just that, imaginary. But her son's imaginary friend was very real. Although it didn't have a solid form, it resided in his mind and what he said was real. And Elizabeth wept with the knowledge. The years before his birth, war had plagued the world between angel and demon. Each death of human, angel, and demon alike had been packed away for the heir of The Above. She had known that The Taint this time around would be much stronger but she had idly believed that her child would be able to overcome it.

The Taint had grown and transformed into a way that was dangerous. It showed up in childhood, rather than adulthood. It curled itself around her baby boy in the mask of a fun friend. After all, royalty never really had too many friends their age due to their status. So the Taint had taken on the mask of a friend, his age and so very like him. Elizabeth wondered if Cloud had even seen The Taint in a young child's form in his mind's eye.

Afterwards, Cloud changed. Her laughing baby boy had grown stoic, waking up with nightmares and stifling screams into the pillow. So she took him to her councilors, hoping to find the problem like any concerned parent. That's when she found out that her allowed tolerance for his imaginary friend was The Taint. She had allowed her precious son face the worst enemy of her kind. And at that moment, she desperately had wished she more children, so the voice of The Taint could be split. She believed it would've made it easier. But of course, she could only be married once and her husband had died in the war before Cloud's birth. Cloud became the sole heir and the only person who bore The Taint in all its strength.

Elizabeth had been lucky, being the third child out of five. The Taint had been split up between five children. Sadly, she had been the only sole daughter of her parents and her brothers had all been sent to the war where they died. Thus she was left to be the only heir to the throne. But her baby boy, Cloud, was alone.

After finding out her mistake, she had been determined to fix it. She had to force herself to be cruel to her son. Elizabeth took measures to make it seem that Cloud's imaginary friend was a figment of his imagination. She was cruel in her measures, ignoring him until he convinced her that he would stop talking to his imaginary friend.

Unfortunately, her cruelty only resulted in him turning to his friend more often to comfort him. She pleaded and begged, she wept with the sorrow of the burden she had given her son. And at the age six, Elizabeth had to tell her son the truth in all its unbounded glory. It was a story full of bloodshed, monstrous images, and oceans of pain. And it wasn't a story told from her mouth. Rather it was story hidden in a box, a box full of magic, and she opened it and exposed him to it so he could see the truth.

So since age six, Cloud has been burdened. After that, he stopped and he fought against his demon in his mind. And since age six, he finally noticed all the people treating him with barely contained resentment.

Elizabeth shook herself mentally from the memories. She looked at her son. She could feel hatred stirring in her heart against herself, for allowing him to be so troubled. And in some way, she could feel love and pity for her son because she knows that the burden he carries in larger than this world.

"You shouldn't have fought him." Elizabeth whispered to her son. Cloud only stared back at her, his hands behind his back with his stance of that that reminded her of a soldier listening to his orders.

She waved her hand and the other angel that Cloud had fought came in. "You'll be punished by being sent to the Middle Ground stripped of all your magic."

The other angel screamed and glared at Cloud.

"It is your entire fault, you low life angel!" The other angel screamed. Cloud merely looked on without emotion. With a wave of her hand, Elizabeth sent the other angel away. She stood from her throne and walked down the many steps to be level with her son.

She affectionately touched his cheek with her cool hand. Her heart clenched painfully when she saw him flinch.

"You're getting to that point, Cloud, where you must get over your demonic mind. You must take over! You must keep fighting, you have to show the people you're worthy of being God." She told him.

"It is my birth right, Mother. No one can take that away from me." His simple reply was.

"I will give you the throne when I believe you can take it without going mad and destroying the place!" Elizabeth shouted. She turned her back on him and started walking back to her throne, ashamed at having raised her voice to him. "You're dismissed."

When she thought he was past ear shot, she whispered "You should've been born a demon."

But of course in the large expanse of the room, whispers are like shouts. And Cloud picked up the cruel broken words, sadly spoken.

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"I'm sending you on an errand." Sephiroth told his little sister.

Tifa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Another? "What is this time?" She asked.

"I need you to meet God." He told her simple. Tifa's eyes snapped to his with shock.

His lips were set in a grim line. "That damn time has come again. You should know by now that we must complete this to maintain this joke of peace."

Tifa knew her brother hated the idea of peace with their mortal enemy. This was why it was merely a façade of peace. There were ways around the thousand year old rules set in place to keep the world from crumbling.

"What do I wear while in the presence of God?"

Sephiroth laughed. "Hardly matters does it?" And with that, he left. He threw a comment before he was completely out her sights.

"I won't look for your failed attempt to find my prey last time if you do this for me. I rather do other things than be with that pathetic being called God."

Tifa's heart raced in fear. Denzel and Marlene! Her resolve steeled, she must complete these next two weeks flawlessly and quickly. She must keep her eldest brother happy if she wanted to keep the children out of danger. That would mean keeping The Contract terms enough that Sephiroth can go around it without being caught to commit his much beloved sins.

She slipped into a dark wine red dress that came to her thighs. She strapped on a pair of black boots with long silver laces. She turned around to make sure that her tattoo that marked her as the Rose of the Black Moon, Princess of the Underworld, was unobstructed. She had to make sure God knew what power she held, after all. Despite the fact that she hated to show it, formality required it.

Without much thought, Tifa left for the Middle Ground.

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She leaned against the cool metal of the railing. God was late. She stared at the dark sky stretched out above her, seeing the beauty of the stars. Tifa huffed impatiently. Her mind wandered freely here, in the large open space without walls called the Middle Ground. Here was the balance and here, Tifa felt that she had no battles to fight. Her mind wandered to Denzel and Marlene, she wondered if they were safe.

A dim flash of light caught her attention when she spotted it from the corner of her eye. Such lights were unnatural in the Middle Ground, to a being like herself anyways. Out of the light came out a man. The light seemed almost drawn to him even in the middle of the night. He held the appearance of a man she had never seen before in the world. He had unruly golden spiky hair and he was perhaps only one or two shades tanner than she. He wore all white and he was a bit on the thin side but throw the material of his clothing, Tifa could sense all the muscles that rippled as he moved.

What was most startling thing were his bright blue eyes. They were a color she had never seen before and such color sent an excitement through her spine. They were beautiful and captivating. It was exhilarating.

When her elder brother told her she was going to meet God, she had been expecting a much older man. But the man who stopped and stood in front of her, merely looking at her with such an emotionless face of strong jaw and almost feminine cheeks, looked almost her age. However, in the Underworld and Above, looks are always deceiving.

Cloud looked at the woman in front of him. She was thin with the most sinful curves he had ever seen. Her long raven black hair windblown, the smell of the sea clinging to her skin to his sensitive nose, and the bright stunning ruby eyes that stared back at him. He could sense power in her despite the fact that she almost looked fragile. He could tell she tried to hide it in the way she upheld herself with such rigor. He wondered what caused this delicate beauty to be standing in front of him. All the stories of the Demon King, now he supposed it was only proper to call her Demon Queen, of being a cruel hateful creature didn't seem to be able to grasp the creature in front of her.

They were silent for moments. Neither was what they had expected to meet. A Demon Queen and a young God? They looked far too alike, too much seemingly the same age. Unknowingly, they have many more qualities that made them similar, past appearances and deeper to the soul.

"I'm sorry for my tardiness." Cloud spoke first, breaking the pregnant silence of heavy questions.

"I hadn't expected God to be so late."

Cloud was shocked. God? Someone would think he was God already? He felt excited. Someone thought he was God! A feeling of elation came over him. After a brief moment, logic came back to him. This was a demon after all. One who has probably never seen God before, after all this meeting came only every couple of decades. Perhaps this was a new Demon King as they often changed due to power struggles, although Cloud couldn't recall hearing about a new Demon King.

"I'm not God. I am her son, heir to the throne of The Above." Cloud stated, bowing to her slightly, thinking she was the Demon King.

Tifa shook her head and quickly stopped his movements before he could even bend his waist down a little.

"Oh! I'm not the Demon King! I'm the Rose of the Black Moon."

Cloud's eyebrows narrowed in confusion. The princess of the Underworld? What was she doing here?

Before he could say anything further, the beautiful woman with long coal black hair and sad ruby eyes started talking. She was talking a lot for a demon, he had expected someone stoic and cold. But here, the woman in front of him seemed so lively and animated that it seemed like the black wings sprouting from her back were parts of his imagination.

"It's strange that both the heirs to the worlds have come. I was going to be a little afraid that I was going to be meting God. My brother didn't want to go; he doesn't like this whole idea of keeping peace very much. My other older brother, Vincent, doesn't like coming to the Middle Ground much. I guess I was the only one that was left to go."

Tifa looked at the man next to her. He was very stoic and cold and a shiver ran up her spine. She would never be able to understand what that shiver was out of, pleasure or fear. She shrugged her thoughts away ,determined to fulfill her duties here.

"You were late."

"Pardon me…?"

"I'm Tifa." Tifa answered, looking at him with a small tilt of her head. She has retreated back into her demonic shell.

"I'm Cloud. My apologies for being so late."

And that was how it started. Two heirs from different worlds, opposing worlds, met. It was a silver of uncharted chance that was thrown together. Unexpected and unplanned, without any other ulterior motive. And sometimes, a silver of pure chance thrown together was enough to start something that could change the worlds and hearts and minds.

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**Author's Notes: **Wells I realized I couldn't keep this pivotal moment similar to "I Want To Be You" because their problems are very different than Sakura and Syaoran. As I said before, this story holds the same plot but with very different twists and struggles although you can sometimes clearly see the similarities. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! As always review because I want feedback!


	5. Confessions that Free

**Umbrella Against Fate**

**Disclaimer: **The characters belong to Square Cinx. The story itself is mine.

**Full Summary: **They were both misfits belonging on polar opposite worlds. When they meet in the middle, they decide to do the ultimate act of defiance…they decided to switch themselves. By doing so they entered a bond stronger than any magic that would lead the world as they know it to end. But this is a story about their love and the powerful bond that lead one demon to be turned into an angel and an angel to demon.

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Constant and unrelenting company between two people leads to many things. There becomes a bond that is quick to form and hard to detach from in that time. It is easy to break down walls.

At least that's what Cloud kept telling himself because that was the only reasonable explanation for what Tifa and Cloud were doing now.

It had at first started as light teasing. A few comments later and it became a light argument in which they were mocking each other's strength and capability of fighting. And all the playfulness ignited into the beginnings of a battle.

It's hard to say whether or not it was a lighthearted battle or not, Tifa mused. After all, they were born with innate feelings of hatred for the other being. Still, they now stand in front of each other with weapons raised and stiff wings ready for flight and no burning sensation of the desire to kill have grasped her mind. It was strange, to come into a battle with a small smile on her face and to see one on her opponent's face. Stranger still that Tifa felt so light in the opening of this battle.

Cloud was unsure of how to move. Where to start when a battle is unfolding before him, a battle that is writing it's beginning when its foundation came from jokes? There was no dictation from hatred for the demon telling him where to move and how to attack.

No time to think. She launches first. A flash of her bounding upwards, over his head, another flash of her coming down on him. Left, right, behind. Instincts and adrenaline take over because when a fist comes down, he has raised his arm to block it. It hits him like a pat of rainfall. There is fear and holding back when he counters her attack with a right hook.

Tifa counters with a kick to his chest. He holds his breath, forcing his chest to come out to soften the blow. He inwardly knows that her kick should've knocked him on his back but his feet only slid back. She's holding back too. Muscles are tense and he feels…

He feels unsure. However with the knowledge that she was holding back as well, it bought something warm inside of him. She was just as afraid to hurt him as much as he was afraid to hurt her. The thought should've made him feel emasculated, but it only served to make him feel…warm.

"Is that all you got?" He mockingly asked.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, although the corners of her lips curved upwards slightly. "What about you? You didn't even land a scratch on me!"

"You didn't either." He pointed out.

The next blow she dealt him had more force behind it. So the fight starts. She taunts him. He counters. Each strike he sends at her inflames her and when she commences her next move, there is more force in it which also inflames him.

Her heart was pounding. There was excitement running their course through her veins. Her mind was laughing in glee and for once, there was no fighting of her internal demon and human. It was simply Cloud and her, fists clenching, muscles tightening, and the moves that flow out of her is like the river rushing to meet ocean. Sweat and the coolness it brings when the wind rushes against her skin when she takes flight. The hits she takes seem to heal within seconds even though Tifa knows that there is enough force in Cloud's hit to seriously damage her.

There was no voice of the Taint in his mind. There are no whispers in his ears directing his actions like a puppet. There is only the focus of movements, watching the opponent, and fluid actions of attack. There is a flight up, a flight down, steps to the side, and flashes of colliding limbs of body. There is no one to judge him, no one to look down on him because the ruby eyes that stare at him when she lands an attack are not judging but one that sees that he is a worthy opponent.

And for once, Cloud feels free. He calls upon his sword and Tifa only delights in it. He is only careful to make sure he doesn't cut her too badly. There is that siren call to him again for the fight and for the beauty of it and he answers freely and happily this time because Tifa can only match him.

Eventually magic comes into play. Power building in him until it finally explodes from his hands at her. For a moment, he can only stare in horror. His mouth agape, trying to scream to warn Tifa but the words seemed to have clustered together in his throat in their attempt to choke him. She stands there and his mind screams because she looks like she's too shocked by his attack to MOVE, damn it!

Cloud watches her raise a hand. But he only thinks that she should've attempted to move her legs. He is surprised when something comes out of her hands and the two pieces of magic collide violently and only explode into shatters of light flying around them.

Tifa and Cloud can only think one thing: _Equal. We're equal._

And they laugh. They laugh like children who have discovered a world that has never been known and can not be seen but by them. Tifa flies up, sending the bursts of light from their magic scattering like glitter in the wind, and he follows. She flies and flies higher up, she seems to be trying to fly to the moon.

And he follows and follows her higher up but always seemingly never able to get any closer. He thinks there's nothing more beautiful in this world of the Middle Ground and even his own world of the Above than her in the large expanse of moonlight. She looks illuminated, everything about her is shining. Even her oh too black wings, the moonlight has caressed it and he feels…blinded by it all. She stops when it seems that she can't go any higher. And Cloud can only stare and stare when he reaches. She looked so ethereal that he felt like he was waiting for her to disappear as the wind blew by.

When Tifa sees him, she thinks there can't be anything more beautiful than a man who seemed to carry the sun with them. The night was a velvet color and his golden hair and crystal blue eyes remind her of beaches on the postcards humans buy when they're on vacation. Although the moonlight has casted shadows upon his silhouette, it only serves to bring out the taunt muscles flexing in his arms and the hard lines of his face that seemed to have softened like a child. His white wings were like the moonlight itself. Her heart beats faster for other reasons than their spar.

So they stare as the wind blows past them. They have become too captivated to really feel time slip away because for creatures like themselves, time is endless and repeating. But Cloud moves first. There is grace in his hesitant steps, like he was walking on water unsurely, as he took the short distance to her.

"We're equal," he whispers.

"No…no we're not." She replies and suddenly her eyes are brimmed with pain and sadness. "There is no one equal to someone as me."

If it had been someone else, Cloud would've thought she was being too conceited. However, the tone in her voice like a confession of a shameful act could only make Cloud wonder.

"I'm too damaged. There is no comparison to a demon like I." She peeks over her shoulder and left wing to gaze at him. "Not for a demon that has a soul and a demonic side."

And he understands because he tells her, "We're equal for I'm an angel who carries The Taint, the sins of all angels."

Cloud reaches out, touches her gently. She turns around and when she looks at him, she knows. She knows his story because it is her own story. There might be different factors in them, but the story was the same. They were broken with contradictions sewn in and being torn apart by pressures to be only one half. Struggling to hold on to differences while trying to be the same. Trying not to crush like glass beneath the feet of higher power. Trying to stay standing in all their fights.

They float down. And for once, Cloud and Tifa can tell someone their story. They can tell each other with their own voices. A confession of the deepest kind that has stayed locked and trapped and tortured for far too long in their minds and hearts. A confession that could finally be unlocked and free and flowing.

And like the aftermath of their battle, Cloud and Tifa can only feel equal to each other. They have found someone who was equal to them. And they can only feel free.

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**Author's Notes: **God after a WHOLE month of nonstop exams, I am only happy that I can find the time to read and finally write this chapter to completion. I've had the idea for it for so long and it's taken me such a long time to properly write it out. But I have DONE it!

I've had a couple of reviews saying that my style of writing for this story is very odd and choppy and could use a lot of work. I completely agree. This is one of the hardest stories I've written due to all the complexity and symbolism and I just want to jam it in all in there to have everyone see! So, I will be rewriting some chapters along with updating new chapters with a better sense of writing. I did try to change my writing style a little bit here, to make it more of a story rather than an analytical essay. What'd you guys think?


	6. Author's Notes

**IMPORTANT NOTE!**

**I am rewriting this story! Don't worry, it will be quick. At least I will try to be quick. I'm sorry but lately I'm not really happy with this story so I hope you will forgive me. The plot will be the same but the delivery will be different! I'm so sorry! But I do hope you enjoy the new version of the story. The first two chapters will be out ****THIS WEEKEND! ****I promise, it's the least I can do for springing this type of thing upon my readers. **


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys, this is just another author's note. It's just to let you guys know that I've reposted the story as an entirely different story on the site. It still has the same title and everything, with an additional tagging of REVISED. So just click on my page and you can find it there. Again thank you so much for reading and the patience you're bearing with me. I hope to get up the next two chapters up soon. =]


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